Tripoli (CVE 64) - Naval Cruise Book

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Q2 Since brushing off the mothballs the T has sailed under the helm of three commanding officers Captain Raymond N Sharp and Com mander Gordon W Smith were first and second in command in January 1952 when the TRIP OLI set sail once more In September 1952 at Yokosuka Japan Captain Forsyth Massey as Commander WILLIAM F LAFFEY USN Executive 0 Lcer Commander Laffey a graduate of the U S Naval Academy class of 1940 won his wings 1n 1943 Since then he has served aboard the cruiser TUSCALOOSA and the battleship NORTH CAROLINA. More recently he has served 1n the capa- city of executive officer of PBM Squad- ron 215 and at the Ford Instrument Com- pany Office of Naval Inspector of Ord- nance. Captain CARLTON C. LUCAS, USN Commanding Officer Captain Lucas graduated from the Uni- ted States Naval Academy in 1931 and was designated Naval Aviator in 1934. During World War Two, he was in com- mand of the U.S.S. GARDINER'S BAY, participating in the battles of Okinawa and Saipan, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star during the Okinawa ac- tion, I-Ie was executive officer of the U. S. S. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 1949- 1950, and after beinglpromoted to Cap- tain in 1951, served as the Bureau of Aer- - onautics Representative at Bethpage, Long Island, The Captain makes his home in Garden City, Long Island. COMMANDlNG OFFICER sumed command and upon return to the At lantic in February 1953 Commander Smith was relieved as executive officer by Commander William F Laffey Our present commanding officer Captain Carlton C Lucas took com mand at Mobile Alabama in July 1953

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hip' Hi tory The USS TRIPOLI was launched at the yards of the Kaiser Company in Vancouver, Washl ington on September 2nd, 1943, under the sponsorship of Mrs. Leland B. Webb. The ship was placed in commission on 31 October, 1943, at Astoria, Washington. The name HTRIP- OLP' commemorates one of the great battles of the Barbary War of 1804, This battle is most remembered in the words of the Marine Hymn. Since that day in 1943, the TRIPOLI has been a fighting ship proudly upholding the name she bears. During WW II she was attached to both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. She steamed more than 200,000 miles before she joined the mothball fleet in December of 1945. On the Sth of February, 1944, the TRIPOLI reported for duty with the Atlantic Fleet. Here she was used first on anti-sub pat- rol, then as a training carrier, and later on as an antisubmarine carrier. Planes from the TRIPOLI took part in attacks on at least three submarines, resulting ,in three possible kills. On Christmas Eve 1944, the TRIPOLI returned to the Pacific Fleet as a training carrier. In between training cruises she made ferry runs, carrying supplies to outposts in the Pacific. When the war was over, she became one n of the 'gMagic-Carpet fleet returning troops. On the fifth of January, 1952, after 6 years in mothballs, the USS TRIPOLI again hoisted her colors and set forth to do her part in a new kind of war called a cold war. This time her task consisted of ferrying planes to our forces overseas and to the NATO Countries. Since her re-commissioning the TRIPOLI has seen service in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, hitting such ports as Naples and Brindisi, Italy, Lisbon, Portugal, Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark, Bremerhaven, Germany, Balboa and Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, ' San Diego and San. Francisco, California, Pearl Harbor, Haw- aii, Yokosuka, Japan, St. Nazaire, France., Glasgow, Scotland, New York City, Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana and Key West and Pensacola, Florida. The TBIPOLI has certainly earned her nickname. 'cThe Traveling Tn. She steamed over 200,000 miles in WW II and has steamed over 143,000 miles since her 1'eC0mmiSSi0HiHg in 1952. The USS TRIPOLI has a commendable past and her present crew is extremely proud of this fine record and intends to uphold the traditonally distinctive name of the Traveling T.